


Love in the Summer

by faith_girl222 (faithgirl)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Borderline crackfic, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-07-23
Updated: 2005-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 09:58:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4175568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faithgirl/pseuds/faith_girl222
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Well, sometimes boys your age, do things. And as I was once a boy your age, who did things, I thought I might impart some wisdom."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love in the Summer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GatorJen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GatorJen/gifts).



> Not OotP-compliant.

1.  
Hermione dragged Harry through the lounge, her nose in a travel book. Harry let out girlish yelps with every twisting turn she made. They nearly ran into groups of children, elderly couples and Muggle teenagers who had their ears stuffed with headphones. Her parents, Melinda and Stephen Granger, stood waiting at the far end near their boarding gate. They smiled shiny dentist smiles. Harry was glad to see them, since it gave him an excuse to detach, and people to stand behind as Hermione listed interesting (to some people, and that certainly didn't include Harry), little known facts about Somerset.

 

2.  
Mr Granger had the window seat, and was staring placidly out at the clouds. Mrs Granger hummed to herself as she knitted. Hermione and Harry sat at the end of their row, staring in horror at the food the flight attendant had just brought. They shared a glance, which fell back to the jiggling food. It looked like jelly filled with meat, allowed to go bad. The other passengers were eating it without complaint, and they were both struck by the thought Wizarding food may have ruined them. Hermione gave him a week smile, and dug in. Harry followed suit.

 

3.  
The moment they arrived at the hotel, the Grangers disappeared to the restaurant, leaving Hermione and Harry alone in their room. Harry wandered the room, unpacking. His one tiny suitcase barely filled a single drawer. The curtains wafted in the breeze coming up off the pools. The splash of water was enticing. Harry began changing into his swim trunks. Hermione sat stiffly on her bed. She stared fixedly at the floor. Hermione listened to the rustle for some minutes. When she glanced up, Harry was between underpants removal and trunks application. Hermione shrieked, scandalized, and locked herself in the bathroom.

 

4.  
"Harry! Can - you - hear - me?"

"Yes! But - you're very loud. Perhaps you could speak more quietly?"

"Now?" His volume had dropped a bare few decibels.

"Uh, yes." 

"How is it there? Is it nice, are you enjoying your betrayal?"

"Hermione took you to France last year."

"And all we did was go to museums. You're at a resort in a town without history. Lucky bastard."

"I'm terribly sorry you're missing out on all the awkward silences with her parents."

"Her parents are there?"

"Of course. How am I ever gonna get a chance to finish what she started during exams revision?"

 

5.  
"You're sure your parents don't mind us being out this late?"

Hermione looked at him quizzically. "I'm sure they're both asleep already."

Harry made to reply, but a fist fight broke out at the other end of the hamburger bar. A man went flying down the aisle past their booth, cursing up a storm. His assailant followed, pausing to give Hermione a look that made Harry want to join in the brawl. 

She caught his expression. "We can't do anything, Harry."

"But surely some magic in the service of keeping the peace –"

A raised eyebrow was his only response.

 

6.  
"I thought you said no doing school things?"

"Book shopping hardly qualifies."

"Bah."

The shop clearly catered to the tourists. It was packed with trendy bestsellers and huge volumes describing in, as Harry found out, painstaking detail the non-history the town had. Hermione could be heard making happy noises several aisles back.

A throat cleared. Two girls stood before him. One prodded the other forward.

"Omigod, you're Harry Potter, aren't you?"

"Er."

"Can I have your autograph?" She thrust a book and pen into his face.

"Yeah."

He scribbled his name, without watching. His name ended up wrapped around the spine.

 

7.  
The hills rolled magically in the west, the sun sinking behind them. Hermione sighed girlishly. Harry shifted uncomfortably in his saddle. The horse whinnied and moved. Harry bit his lip and tried to appear manly.

"Isn't this romantic?"

"Very."

"Let's ride round the pond over there."

Off she went. Harry hesitated. And then suddenly the horse shot off in the opposite direction, veering crazily across the grounds. Harry hung on for dear life. The horse jumped over some lawn chairs and he went tumbling off its back.

Hermione rushed back. She loomed over him as he blinked himself to awareness.

 

8.  
Hermione dragged him down the street, Harry protesting the whole way.

"There aren't any sights here, Hermione. That was why I agreed to come -- I mean is wonderful, because then we can spend more time together, uh, reading."

"There are too sights. Look, there are docks with a lovely view of the ocean over there, and er, the resort is very attractive."

"We're staying at the resort; we don't need to go anywhere to see it."

Hermione sighed, defeated. Then she got a look at the park across the road, and her sails were full again. She dragged him off.

 

9.  
Beside the lone dock, with its splendid view of the ocean, there was a small stretch of beach on which desperate tourists tried to pretend they were in Brighton. Harry camped out near the dock. Hermione wandered up the beach, her nose in a book. People dodged her, grumbling. She somehow made her way to him, and sat down on his blankets.

Harry leaned towards her. Hesitated when -- "Why did you ask me down here again? It's cold."

He leaned in a bit further.

"Can't you tell?"

Hermione looked up from her book.

He leaned further. She met him halfway.

 

10.  
They went up to Hermione's aunt's cottage the next day. It was small, tucked into a wood. It had a thatched roof and looked like it had fallen out of a fairy tale. Harry snuck off and bought the makings of a picnic. He invited Hermione outside to join him. She came into the clearing, and made a warbly noise that Harry associated with one's knees turning to jelly. He'd filled the area with Wizard candles. They smelled like lilacs. Hermione came closer. Harry had her cover her eyes. When uncovered them, butterflies flew in the candlelight, casting purple shadows.

 

11.  
Sadly for Harry, there was a museum near the cottage. He reluctantly followed Hermione there the next day. It was a grand looking building, for something beside trees many stories higher. Harry paid for their admission, and stayed close to Hermione throughout their tour. It was nice to be able to do that. As they stood on the back terrace, watching a reenactment of a battle ritual the Anglo-Saxons had had, he kissed her. Their first kiss in public, and he could feel her startle a bit. He made it soft and chaste, like the waking kiss in a fairytale.

 

12.  
Hermione crept from her room that night. She heard the telly playing on the other side of the house. She quickly crossed the hall and slipped into Harry's room. He was in bed, resting quietly. He didn't stir until she'd climbed into bed next to him.

"Hi."

Her hair was lit from behind, making her face glow. He leaned up and kissed her. She deepened it, and slid her hand down his chest. He pulled her closer, rolling them over. They continued from some minutes when a sound in the hall made Harry sit bolt upright.

"I'll lock the door."

 

13.  
That weekend Hermione's cousins came down for afternoon tea. They had no idea who Harry was, he didn't think, but they seemed quite taken with him. Asking him loads of questions and sharing disturbing anecdotes. They ended up staying for supper, and then Mr Granger suggested they camp out in the yard. Thrilled, they got him to agree to a bonfire. Harry and Hermione sat outside with them that night, telling tales roughly based on fact, but highly altered for their Muggle palettes. There were soul-sucking demons who rose out of lakes and diabolical school boys who sought world domination.

 

14.  
When Harry woke on Monday morning, Hermione was sitting on the far side of the bed reading a book with a distinctly leather binding.

"What's going on?"

"Dumbledore called. He wants us to do some work for the Order while we're out here. Grab a book – and don't give me that look."

Harry's chin was on her knee, and he was staring up at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Do you think there's time for research, and uh, that?"

"I can multitask."

Their lips brushed. "Promise you won't lay on any of the books?"

"I'd never dream of doing that."

 

15.  
The Grangers went out to the market, and left them alone in the house. Hermione set herself up on the lawn with a pile of books and a notepad. Harry skulked around the house, cursing all writings ever. Then someone rang mid mental-rant.

"Hullo?"

"Ah, Harry. It's Dumbledore. I thought perhaps I ought to call, since the fires there aren't hooked up."

"Call why, sir?"

"Well, sometimes boys your age, do things. And as I was once a boy your age, who did things, I thought I might impart some wisdom."

Harry longed for the books as Dumbledore began imparting.

 

16.  
The line of people wishing to give Harry advice didn't end with the Headmaster. The following day Remus and Sirius Apparated into the kitchen, nearly giving Harry a heart attack at his obviously mature and sophisticated age.

"So," Sirius said, clapping Harry's shoulder. "I hear you're a man now."

"Where, where do people keep hearing this?"

"You know how the gossip vine is," Remus smirked a bit. "Girls tend to share."

"Anyway, we thought since we've not done this earlier perhaps The Talk is in order. Being your godfather and all, it's my duty to tell you these important things."

 

17.  
Those things included: that Harry would always be wrong; Hermione makes all the rules; protection, whether Muggle or Magical, was the most important thing. Fortunately, they were the last people Harry was horribly embarrassed by those holidays. The Grangers seemed oblivious. Although, after supper one night, Mr Granger did go on a rather emphatic spiel about flossing. Hermione seemed terribly amused by his woes, and whenever she attempted to apologize for sharing it, she'd burst out laughing. Even Ron found out and rang, to congratulate Harry. Harry would make Hermione pay for this -- she wasn't getting any for ages.

 

18.  
That lasted about half a day. He ended up giving in between Muggle football matches on the wireless. The colour commentary and crowd's cheering covered their noises nicely. As they sat in bed after, Hermione smirked at him. His fingers immediately began tickling her stomach. She burst out laughing, and then let out a high pitched shriek as something outside the window came into view. A man very similar to Dumbledore in appearance had just fallen past their window at high speed. Wrapping herself in a sheet, she peered out the window. Aberforth Dumbledore sat placidly in the garden below.

 

19.  
Aberforth was sent back home, and told not to do magic while drinking. Life went on without incident for only two days. They went into town, which seemed to be populated by the oddest people. Extremely pale young men hung about the doctor's office, hissing in the twilight. Harry was driven to distraction by some people with white-blond hair. And Hermione ended up backed into a corner by a Veterinary major at the uni not too far away, all because he thought Crookshanks was the most interesting animal he had ever seen and could he just have a closer look?

 

20.  
They went back to London on 31 August. The Grangers brought them to Diagon Alley. They ran into almost no school friends. They got their set books in an odd atmosphere they'd never experience before, having never been there except during the back to school season. They were both struck by the frightening thought that this was their last time shopping for school things. As they stood in line at Flourish & Blotts, Harry asked if she intended to go to University. She did, and was still going on about the A-Levels when they boarded the train one day later.


End file.
